We can’t predict the future, but we can think more about the sort of future we want, and how to achieve it. In fact, it is vital that we do just that.

That’s why futures thinking underpins Forum for the Future’s approach to promoting sustainable development.

We believe that using simple techniques to think in a structured way about the future, and the impacts of global trends like climate change, population growth and emerging technologies, can make a big difference to how organisations approach sustainability. 

Our work

We use a range of techniques to help organisations to think in a useful and structured way about the future, to challenge their assumptions about the world, and to navigate risk and seize opportunity.  

We create scenarios - plausible, coherent, challenging descriptions of possible future worlds - as a tool to communicate the impacts of global trends, to develop more resilient strategies, and to innovate sustainable products, services and processes. In Climate Futures, produced jointly with HP Labs, we explored the political, economic, social and psychological impacts of climate change. It led the company to set up a new sustainable innovation team and has earned a global reputation.

We create powerful visions of the future that demonstrate solutions and galvanise action. In our Tourism 2023 project we helped leading travel companies to explore the future of UK outbound tourism and create a vision of a sustainable industry, which benefits communities in tourism destinations and protects the environment. British Airways, TUI Travel and Thomas Cook are among nine organisations which have pledged to make to this vision a reality.

We’re experts in horizon scanning – identifying the ‘weak signals’ from today that teach us about what the future might hold. We are currently looking at the trends which might affect Buying Solutions’ procurement work, using the contents of the horizon scan to ensure that the contracts that they tender are at the vanguard of sustainability.

We convene debate on emerging sustainability issues to raise awareness and influence mainstream thinking. We’ll shortly be launching a report about Population and Sustainability in the UK – watch this space.

For extra detail on these techniques and further examples click here.

Our futures work draws on the expertise of a dedicated team of futurists coupled with the experience of all our staff working to promote sustainable development in businesses and public sector bodies.

We’re not interested in jargon, or keeping futures in a ‘black box’.  We’re motivated by the prospect of a sustainable future, and we want to help enable forward-thinking organisations to lead the way.  That’s why all our futures projects involve our partners as much as possible, and why they’re so successul at creating change. We want to enable change from within, and a momentum that continues long after a project finishes.

Find out more about the services we offer organisations.

News

Sustainable Urban Mobility 2040 - Working as a consortium, Vodafone, the FIA Foundation, EMBARQ and Forum For The Future have partnered on an initiative which will examine the future of urban mobility, using a set of global-level scenarios looking out to 2040. The aim of this work is to promote and support sustainable mobility solutions for the future within private and public sector organizations, by highlighting cutting-edge thinking about mobility, identifying future challenges and exploring tailored mobility solutions. Click here for a summary of the project, or contact Ivana Gazibara for more information.

How could Low Income Countries respond to climate change in the future? We’re working on a project with the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) to explore the possible answers to this question, looking out to 2030, with a focus on the potential for low-carbon growth.  We’re currently developing a set of challenging scenarios and will be using them with senior decision-makers and policymakers. Click here for a summary of the project, or contact Jemima Jewell for more information.

Contacts
Get in touch with any member of our team if you’d like to find out more about our futures work, or explore how we might be able to work together:  

James Goodman - leads the team and the work
Ivana Gazibara - special interest in emerging markets
Clare Jenkinson - particular interest in social justice issues and using metrics in futures work
Jemima Jewell - special interest in corporate strategy and international development
Hugh Knowles - focuses on using futures for innovation and inspiring significant change